A New Zealand financier, Rayo Withanage, has bought Picasso's eight-acre French Riviera estate for $33 million.

Picasso worked and lived at Mas de Notre Dame de Vie, as the property is called, from 1961 until his death at the age of 91 in 1973.

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The remote, private estate has views of the Mougins, the bay of Cannes, and the Mediterranean, and was renovated extensively after being sold in 1986. The estate had remained in Picasso's family until then, and had fallen into disrepair after lying empty for decades.

The eight-acre estate includes a tennis court, pool, and pool house with summer kitchen, gym, spa, changing rooms, showers, and laundry. The magical gardens have been restored to Picasso’s designs from the 1960s, and feature olive trees, stone steps, and outdoor terraces. 

Withanage acquired the property following a drawn out process, reports Mansion Global.

Mas de Notre Dame de Vie was first auctioned in June, when it recieved a winning bid of $28 million. But within a couple of weeks of the auction, Withanage made a bid of $33 million for the estate, which according to agent Hans Veenhuijsen of Residence365 is permissable under French law, so long as the new bid is 10 per cent higher than the highest bid at auction and occurs within two weeks of the auction, and so long as the new bidder can come up with a 10 per cent guarantee.

When this process, called a 'surenchere', occurs, a second auction must be held, and this is precisely what happened last week, reports Mansion Global. As there were no higher bids than Withanage's offer, the property is now his.

He just has to come up with the remaining 90 per cent - around $30 million - of the final sale price.

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